


Take a Step (and I’m On My Way)

by orphan_account



Category: Haikyuu!!, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Ruby & Sapphire & Emerald | Pokemon Ruby Sapphire Emerald Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hinata is the Pokemon Whisperer, Houen-chichou | Hoenn, Kageyama is a Grump, M/M, Pokemon Journey, Rivals, but there's no kink in sight, guys can you really resist a pokemon-haikyuu crossover, haikyuu! kink meme
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-17
Updated: 2014-12-19
Packaged: 2018-02-13 13:31:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2152542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“None of my Pokémon like me,” Kageyama finally grits out. “Satisfied?”<br/>There’s a long, drawn out silence as Hinata’s brain tries to comprehend this information. “Your Pokémon… don’t like you?” he repeats helplessly.</p>
<p>(Five times Hinata Shouyou loses a Pokémon battle to Kagayama Tobio, and one time he wins one.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hoenn's Where The Heart Is! (or, the first time)

The first time Hinata Shouyou loses a Pokémon battle to Kageyama Tobio isn’t so much notable for the match itself as it is for what happens about a year later.

But more about that later. For now, Hinata’s fourteen years old and it’s the first officially recognized Pokémon battle he’s ever taken part of.

A couple decades ago he’d probably have started his journey at eleven, but times have changed since then, and the legal age for Pokémon trainers got bumped up to fifteen after some kid got eaten by his own Carnivine.

Yeah. Real fun.

.

The battle club at his school has finally scraped up enough people to enter one of those tournaments for kids not yet old enough to be proper trainers with Pokémon of their own, and he's so excited he’s practically vibrating. The tournament’s being held in Kanto so they hadn't had to travel to get there, but it's an interregional one.

If Hinata's remembering things right, there are a few schools from Sinnoh and Hoenn in attendence, but knowing Hinata's track record... 

Well, suffice it to say that most people wouldn't take his word for it.

The tournament venue is outside, and it’s one of those nice breezy days when everyone who’s in their right mind wants to be outside. The air tastes like autumn. 

Hinata breathes it in and tries to enjoy it, but it's impossible. His stomach’s tight with nerves and he’s thrown up in the restroom twice already.

Hinata's sitting in one of the boxes they’ve marked out in the grass with chalk for trainers to stand in. The rental Zigzagoon he’d gotten for this match snuffles at his knee, and then, after a moment's hesitation, licks him.

Hinata laughs. "What're you doing?" he says, and scratches the little creature behind the ears. The Zigzagoon purrs happily and nuzzles him.

Someone coughs. Hinata looks up.

It’s a tall boy, lanky but handsome in a weird way, with thick black hair and a stony look on his face. He's got a standard issue pokeball tightly clenched in one of his hands.

“You shouldn’t do that, you know,” he says.

Hinata looks up, blinks. “Do what?”

The boy sighs. He gives Hinata the sort of withering look that teachers save for hooligans and students who seem particularly slow. “You shouldn’t be playing around with that Pokémon. It’s not even yours, and anyway, battling is serious. What, did you come here to just to goof around and ‘make memories’ or something?”

Hinata bristles. He’d been trying to be on his best behavior today, but, well, things don’t always work out exactly as planned. To be fair, fourteen-year-old boys are not typically known for their spectacular self-control, and even among his peers Hinata’s short fuse is the stuff of legends.

It’s like everything this guy does is designed specifically to push people’s buttons. Even if by some miracle Hinata hadn’t been fazed by how freaking _haughty_ the boy’s sneer is, the sheer amount of bored arrogance condensed into that one remark is so irritating it could probably even piss off a saint.

“I came here to battle!” he snaps.

The boy crosses his arms over his chest and scoffs. “You say that like you think it’s going to be so easy,” he says. “It’s not. Even an idiot like you has got to know that strategy is the most important thing in a Pokémon battle. Do you have a strategy that you can put your confidence in? You don’t look like you do.”

His eyes shine with conviction. It's sort of charming, in a weird kind of way, but Hinata's too busy being angry to take too much notice.

Okay, so it’s all too clear that this guy  _loves_ Pokémon battling, but he's still a total jerk. In fact, that somehow makes Hinata even angrier, because seriously, how is it possible that someone who likes something as amazing as Pokémon battling can have an attitude like... like  _that?_

“I may not have a strategy,” Hinata growls, heat rushing to his face. “But my Pokémon and I are going to work together to beat you, y’hear me?”

“Working together without a strategy still means you don’t have a strategy—” the boy starts, but then an old guy in a referee shirt shows up out of nowhere, _finally_ , and they both fall silent.

They settle for glaring daggers at each other instead.

“Kageyama Tobio versus Hinata Shouyou,” the referee says in his reedy voice. “Are you ready to begin?”

“Yes,” says Kageyama immediately.

“Yes,” says Hinata, glaring daggers at the other boy.

.

Hinata’s Zigzagoon growls, hackles up and spiky fur standing on end. Kageyama’s Murkrow hisses right back, circling around just high enough for Zigzagoon not to be able to reach it.

The stupid thing’s been using Quick Attacks like nobody’s business, darting in and then flying out of range too fast for Zigzagoon to counterattack. Zigzagoon’s looking pretty battered: it’s probably going to faint soon. They haven’t put a single scratch on Murkrow.

Both of their Pokémon are at fairly low levels, and neither of them have any long-distance attacks yet, but even Hinata –who’s never had much of a head for strategy-- can tell that Kageyama is milking the fact that his Pokémon’s a flying type with all he’s got. If this goes on it’s inevitable that Hinata’s going to lose, and badly, so he’s gotta do something to shake things up a little.

He grits his teeth.

“Okay,” he growls, frustration coiling like a Seviper in the pit of his stomach. “Try jumping up as high as you can and biting it!”

Kageyama’d been staring intensely at the two Pokémon duking it out since the battle began, but at that he looks up and blinks.

It’s kind of hard to tell, but he looks sort of incredulous. “Seriously?” he says scornfully. “That’s stupid. Even your Zigzagoon’s gotta know that’s stupid. It’s not going to do _that_.”

Hinata frowns. He is so freaking _sick_ of this guy’s attitude, and anyway, he hadn’t thought that the suggestion was _that_ bad.

“Prove that jerk wrong, Zigzagoon!” he hollers.

And so the next time Murkrow comes circling around, Zigzagoon _jumps_ , and bites down hard on its feathery tail. Murkrow squawks in alarm, thrown off, and teeters precariously in the air.

Kageyama stares, eyes wide, but doesn’t waste a second.

“Higher, Murkrow!” he yells. “Go as high as you can and then shake it off!”

Oh, _no:_ so that’s why Kageyama had thought it was such a dumb move. With surprising strength, Murkrow strains upwards. For such a small bird, with something so heavy attached to it, it's doing startlingly well.

Zigzagoon, on the other hand, is hanging there by its _teeth_.

And then, in a wholly unsurprising turn of events, it falls.

Hinata's heart doesn't just sink: it crashes into an iceberg, rips itself in half, and  _then_ it sinks.

And yeah, trainers aren’t supposed to physically interfere in Pokémon battles and all that, but of course Hinata isn't going to just stand back and let Zigzagoon hit the ground like that.

“ _I forfeit!”_ he shrieks, and then he’s running onto the field and _diving_.

Zigzagoon lands in his right in his arms. It looks a little worse for wear, but not like it’s just broken every bone in its body.

The fall knocks the wind out of him, but he looks at Zigzagoon and Zigzagoon looks at him.

And then Zigzagoon licks his cheek, and then he’s just kind of giggling, because  _Arceus_ that had been close.

The referee stares. Kageyama stares. Murkrow swoops down and stares too.

“Erm,” says the referee finally. “Kageyama Tobio wins and advances to the next round?”

“Thanks for the battle,” Kageyama says, after a pause. He spins on his heel and leaves without another word, Murkrow fluttering after him.

Hinata sighs. Damn. He’d lost in the first round.

Zigzagoon licks him on the cheek with its scratchy tongue, so Hinata gets up and shakes the referee’s hand with the hand he’s not holding Zigzagoon in. Then he goes off to find the rest of his school.

.

Later on, after an extensive bit of lurking around and asking everyone he knows, he learns that Kageyama Tobio is something of a prodigy and on track to studying under a gym leader after graduating from middle school. Some people, Hinata thinks bitterly, just have all the luck.

.

The year he turns fifteen, Hinata gets on his father's Pidgeot on the day that trainer registrations open. They fly all the way from their little house in Kanto to Hoenn, the home region of his personal idol: the 'Small Giant', who'd swept the League with his team of Hoenn's biggest Pokémon despite his diminutive stature.

Littleroot Town has the same familiar small-town vibes to it that Pallet Town does, but this is the Hoenn region, and Hinata’s about to become a Pokémon trainer and so somehow it seems about a hundred times more exciting. It’s six in the morning and far too early for anyone sane to be up and about. The air is cold and crisp with all the freshness of a new beginning.

Hinata’s sense of direction is appalling. Luckily, Littleroot Pokémon Lab is the biggest building in the entire town, and he ends up finding it no problem.

Unluckily, it only opens at nine.

“What the hell is this,” he says disbelievingly, and then slumps down against the locked door, with no choice but to twiddle his thumbs and wait.

Ten minutes later a Swellow lands in front of the lab and—

It’s like something out of a nightmare. “You,” he says, disbelievingly. “Kageyama Tobio.”

“You’re…” says Kageyama. The Swellow cuffs him affectionately on the shoulder and flies away, but he ignores it. “I don’t know your name.”

Ouch. Hinata snorts.

“Course you don’t,” he says. “Someone like  _you_  wouldn’t remember a guy who lost to you in the first round, huh?”

“No, I definitely remember you,” Kageyama says, and then goes silent, no explanation given.

“What the heck?” Hinata says. Arceus, it’s been a year since they’ve met and this guy’s _still_ irritating as all hell. For one thing, he isn't making any _sense_. “You wanna fight or something?”

Kageyama stares at him. "Are you an idiot?” he says disbelievingly.

Hinata blinks, taken aback, and then grits his teeth. “Okay, so I lost last time. So what? I’ll beat you next time!”

The other boy just looks Hinata up and down icily, not even bothering to reply.

“What?” Hinata says, suddenly feeling strangely defensive. “Why are you even here? Weren’t you going to go study under a gym leader or something?”

The other boy stiffens. “As far as studying under a gym leader goes,” he says coldly. “I didn’t get any offers. What about you? I thought you were from the Kanto region. Why are you in Hoenn?”

“I’m here ‘cause the ‘Small Giant’ did his journey here too,” Hinata says, pride bleeding into his strained voice.

“The ‘Small Giant’? That trainer who ranked second in the Hoenn league last year?” says Kageyama. “So you’re a fan of his, huh.” He falls silent, looks away.

“Yeah,” says Hinata, and sinks back into a squat. “Whatever. The lab doesn’t even open until nine, so you might as well sit down.”

Kageyama nods. “I see,” he says.

They settle down to wait in silence.

.

They make it through the registration process without too many problems. Hinata and Kageyama get into exactly six separate arguments over the course of an hour, and Hinata accidentally knocks the Professor’s toupee off, but other than that it’s all smooth sailing.

The pokeball has a good weight in Hinata’s hands. “This is so cool,” he says to himself, and then repeats it again, louder. “This is so _cool_!”

Kageyama pockets his own pokeball. He’s even smiling to himself, sort of, looking pleased, in a weird, Kageyama-ish way. He turns to head outside.

“Hey, hey, where are you going? Let’s battle!” Hinata says.

“Battle you?” Kageyama says. He doesn’t even stop walking. “No.”

Hinata scowls. “Why not?”

The other boy pushes open the lab door. “Because,” he says, leveling Hinata with a stare dripping with contempt. “There’s no point. We haven’t even started training these Pokémon: it would be like battling with rentals, and if the battle’s going to come down to pure strategy we both know I’d win. Anyway, this town doesn’t even have a Pokémon center.”

And then he leaves. Hinata gapes.

“What an asshole,” he grumbles, good mood gone. He presses the white button on the pokeball, releases the Torchic inside onto the cold linoleum floor in a flash of red light. “You think so too, huh, little buddy?”

The Torchic cheeps curiously, and Hinata bends down, scoops it up. “Aren’t you a _cutie_?” he says, and immediately feels embarrassed for cooing over it like some girl. Then the Torchic nuzzles its head against his shirt, and he gives up on maintaining any semblance of his dignity.

It's just so  _fluffy_.

.

The nearest Pokémon Gym is in Rustboro City. Since challenging Gyms is what Pokémon trainers do, that becomes Hinata’s first destination.

Camping out is harder than it sounds. Hinata spends the whole trip struggling with setting up his tent, running away from wild Pokémon, and contemplating how much of an asshole Kageyama is.

He eventually comes to the conclusion that he and Kageyama are destined rivals.

.

The next time he sees Kageyama is at Rustboro Gym, about a week after he first sets off.

He gets there just in time to see Gym Leader Sugawara’s Onix slamming Kageyama’s Mudkip against a rock. It doesn’t get back up.

Kageyama returns his Pokémon wordlessly. A few seconds later, Sugawara does the same, and crosses the battlefield to put one hand on Kageyama’s shoulder.

“Do you understand why you lost that match?” Sugawara says, finally. “All of your Pokémon were fairly strong, and your strategy was flawless. But you lost anyway, because your Pokémon didn’t listen to your commands.”

“I see,” Kageyama says tersely, and glares angrily at the ground.

Sugawara clucks sympathetically. “You have some trouble conveying your feelings to your Pokémon, don’t you?” he says. “It’s a problem a lot of trainers have when they’re just starting out. Don’t feel too badly about it.”

Hinata fidgets. As interesting as it is seeing Kageyama getting upbraided by a Gym Leader, Hinata kind of wishes that they'd just get on with it already, because it's almost closing time and come on, he wants to have his match too!

Plus, this whole thing seems a little too personal for him  _not_ to feel awkward about standing there and listening.

“Um,” he says. “Gym Leader Sugawara?”

Sugawara looks up. "Oh, sorry. Another challenger?"

Hinata nods frantically, and Suguwara smiles. "Right this way, then."

.

The match begins without much further ado.

Sugawara sends out the same Onix as before. Hinata tosses his pokeball up in the air and releases Torchic, who bursts out and lands on its feet in the sandy battlefield.

“Okay,” he says. “Um. Charge it!”

And charge it Torchic does. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t a great idea to ask a chick Pokémon (barely tall enough to peck someone in the knee!) to charge a thirty-foot-long rock snake.

“Tackle,” says Sugawara.

Hinata’s eyes widen. Oh crap. “Dodge! Dodge! Dodge!” he yells.

Torchic dodges frantically; squeaking in alarm, and promptly gets whacked out of the battlefield by Onix’s tail.

“Out of bounds,” Sugawara says apologetically. “Do you have any other Pokémon?”

Hinata blushes. “Um. No.”

.

Also in hindsight, it probably wasn't a good idea to get into a screaming argument with your rival right in front of a Gym Leader, because of _course_ Sugawara would come up with some creative way to get them for it.

“You want us to what?” Hinata says uncertainly, staring at Sugawara in disbelief. Kageyama doesn’t even say anything, just gapes. In any other situation, Hinata probably would have enjoyed the sight of Kageyama with his mouth hanging open like a Goldeen. As it so happens, it’s all he can do to keep himself from falling over.

“I want you two to train together,” Sugawara says serenely. “I think you would both benefit greatly from it.”

“No,” Kageyama says, finally managing to scrape his enough of his brains off the floor to put together a coherent sentence. “Absolutely not, Gym Leader Sugawara.”

Sugawara smiles, and it’s the single most threatening thing that Hinata’s ever seen in his life. “Why not? Kageyama, you are an excellent strategist, and as for Hinata… while your strategy is somewhat lacking, there are very, very few trainers who can convince a first-stage fire-type to charge directly at a Pokémon that’s thirty times its size and made of rocks. There is plenty that the two of you can learn from each other. So I think you should try it. So what do you think?”

Hinata opens his mouth, and then thinks better of it and closes it again.

Sugawara hums. “Come back in two weeks, all right? I’m sure you’ll both be able to earn a badge from me if you do.”

His eyes gleam menacingly.

A shiver runs down Hinata’s spine. Kageyama looks like he’s paralyzed.

“Okay,” Hinata babbles. “Okay, okay, fine. I’ll do it, okay?”

Kageyama makes a strangled noise of assent.

.

And that's how they end up spending an impressive amount of time together over the next two weeks without trying to claw each other’s eyeballs out. For the most part.

It’s not easy, though.

Kageyama's attempt at teaching Hinata about strategy goes a little like this:

“I don’t understand,” Kageyama says, horrified. “So you’re telling me you challenged a Pokémon gym that specializes in rock-types with one puny little fire-breathing chicken that only knows how to tackle things and use Ember, even though fire-types are weak to rock-types and Gym Leader Sugawara's favorite Pokémon are all more than thirty feet in length… and you _still_ don’t get what you did wrong?”

“Uh…” Hinata says. “Yes?”

Kageyama buries his face in his hands. “Alright,” he says, and his voice is kind of muffled but Hinata can still hear how strained it is. “Let me explain to you the basics of strategy. Rule number one: have more than one type of Pokémon.”

.

Honestly? Hinata appreciates the effort, he really does. But the whole 'learning how to do strategy' thing?

Yeah, probably the most boring thing he's done all year. Also, Kageyama's a jackass, and it's so unfair that he understands all that stuff, because Hinata sure doesn't.

But even though Kageyama's desperate bid at giving Hinata a lesson on the finer details of competitive Pokémon battling ended up being a little humdrum, it's nothing compared to how painful Hinata's little class on how to interact with Pokémon ends up being…

Well, for Kageyama, that is.

For Hinata, it's just flat out hilarious.

“So what’s the problem?” Hinata says, digging his toes into the grass.

Kageyama scowls, his face contorted into this weird expression of pain that’s sort of scary but also sort of makes him look like he’s really, badly constipated. “My…” he says, and then stops abruptly.

Hinata waits.

“None of my Pokémon like me,” Kageyama finally grits out. “Satisfied?”

There’s a long, drawn out silence as Hinata’s brain tries to comprehend this information. “Your Pokémon… don’t like you?” he repeats helplessly.

Kageyama growls. “I should have known you couldn’t help me,” he spits out, and gets to his feet to walk off. That's totally not okay, though, because at least Hinata  _tried_ paying attention when Kageyama was droning on about strategy, right?

“Hey, hey, wait!” he says, and grabs Kageyama by the wrist. “Have you tried, um, talking to them? Like, what do you mean they don’t like you?”

The other boy sits back down, a little reluctantly. “They don’t do what I tell them to do,” he says flatly.

“What, like, in a battle?” Hinata pictures Kageyama getting all frustrated barking orders at his Mudkip and it just not listening. The mental image makes him laugh, and he has to choke it back before Kageyama gets offended and walks off like the prissy little princess that Hinata knows he secretly is.

“Yeah,” Kageyama says gruffly.

“Okay, okay,” says Hinata. “Well, try letting your Mudkip out of its pokeball.”

“Alright,” Kageyama says dubiously. He fishes a pokeball out of his pocket and tosses it up in the air.

His Mudkip does a funny little wriggle in midair and then proceeds to nail the poor guy right in the eyes with a blast of water that leaves him sopping wet from head to toe. It makes a noise like a mix between a coughing fit and someone scraping their nails down a chalk board that Hinata knows with an iron clad certainty is the amphibian version of an evil cackle.

In the stunned silence that follows, the laugh that bubbles out of Hinata’s chest is both completely unexpected and totally inappropriate.

Kageyama punches him in the nose.

.

“Oh, it’s you two,” Sugawara says with a beatific smile. He’s just finished wiping the floor with yet another unfortunate challenger looking for his first badge. The poor kid looks a little shell-shocked, staring at his unconcious Treecko in stunned silence. “Here to challenge me again?”

“That’s right!” Hinata hollers. There's a bandage over his nose from where Kagayama punched him. “And we’re both going to win this time, too!”

Kageyama nods. He's got a steely glint in his eyes. “We’ve both improved a lot. We’ll definitely win this.”

Sugawara laughs. “Is that so?” he says. “I knew you could do it. Well, shall we start then? Who wants to go first?”

“Me!” says Hinata, brandishing his two Pokeballs. “I have a secret weapon this time— a Lotad! The most amazing Lotad of all time!”

Kageyama rolls his eyes. “It’s not a secret weapon if you tell him what it is,” he says, but his tone somehow isn’t as mocking as the words would suggest.

.

Sugawara’s second Onix roars and goes down like a sack of bricks. Mudkip does that weird cackle thing again and then proceeds to go do a little victory dance on its unconscious opponent’s head.

They’ve won. They’ve actually won.

"Holy crap," Hinata says. "I just won. You just won. Both of us won.  _We_  won."

Kageyama stares at him with wide eyes, Mudkip's pokeball clenched in one hand. "Hell yeah," he says.

.

When they leave the gym, the sun is already setting on Rustboro. It’s just starting to get dark out.

Hinata’s shoes click on the stone pavement.

“Man,” he says, stretching. “I'm beat. Winning sure feels good.”

They pass a streetlamp. The light catches on the badge clipped to Hinata’s jacket.

“You know,” Kageyama says, so softly that Hinata almost doesn’t hear it. “I became a trainer because of this feeling.”

“The feeling of what, victory?” Hinata stops walking and laughs, a little ruefully. He looks at the sky, breathes in the cold Hoenn air. “Jeez, I kind of get what you mean. Winning, it’s like— bwaah! It feels great! But, well. I didn’t really become a trainer because of this.”

“You didn’t?” Kageyama looks at him sharply, but in the pale yellow light of the streetlamp his face looks softer, somehow, more… peaceful.

“Nah. I mean, I kind of lose more than I win anyway, y’know?” Hinata closes his eyes. The Kricketunes are chirping in the distance. A single Venomoth flits past, attracted to the bright, glowing streetlight. “But, well, I really love Pokémon. I want to spend my whole life with them! So that’s why I decided to become a trainer.”

“You could have become a Pokémon breeder,” Kageyama says. “Or a Coordinator. Or even just a regular person who owns a bunch of Pokémon.”

Hinata shrugs. “Yeah, well,” he says, “I don’t know. I think there’s something about fighting side-by-side with your Pokémon that’s special.”

“Yeah,” Kageyama says. He looks down at the badge in his hand with this weird, thoughtful expression. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

“You do?” Hinata snickers. “Hey, Kageyama, you’re not such a bad guy after all. Tell you what, race you the rest of the way to the Pokémon Center!” He takes off like a shot. Hinata is a fast runner when he has to be.

“Hey, wait—” Kageyama starts, but Hinata’s already long gone. He shakes his head. There’s a smile tugging at his lips.

He starts running, trips over a trashcan in the darkness, and starts swearing so loudly that Hinata actually runs back to come check on him.

By then, Hinata kind of figures that it’s pretty safe to say that they’re friends, sort of.

Or, well, friendly rivals, at the very least.

But that's good enough for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TAKE A STEP AND I'M ON MY WAY  
> GOTTA START ALL OVER AGAIN  
> I WANNA BE A HERO  
> HEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  
> POKEMON ADVANCED--
> 
> I love you, Pokemon. This is a six-part multi-chaptered fic, so yup, there's more to come. My punny titles are inspired by the anime's episode titles, which I also love. I mean, come on! "The Lotad Lowdown"? "Taming of the Shroomish"? "The Grass-Type Is Always Greener"? You don't get much better than that, guys.
> 
> Coming up next, "The Mauville City Blues!"


	2. The Mauville City Blues! (or, the second time)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter where Hinata jumps into a river and then Kageyama pours his heart out to him. Hinata, being a total idiot, starts laughing.

The second time Hinata Shouyou loses a match to Kageyama Tobio is in Mauville City, right before Kageyama has a whole bunch of heart-stopping revelations.

.

When Kageyama arrives in Mauville City, the third Gym town, it’s a Monday night in the sixth month of his Pokémon journey, and he’s not there for his third badge, he’s there for his fifth.

The first thing he does is stomp his way into the Pokémon Center, book a room for two, and fall into first bed he sees.

Mauville City is typically a third-badge Gym, if you do things the traditional, Pokémon League-sanctioned way. But after Rustboro Gym Kageyama agreed (reluctantly) to travel with Hinata, because according to Hinata they were rivals and rivals had to do Gyms at the same pace, so they took a ferry all the way to Dewford, the second Gym town.

After that things went downhill very, very quickly.

It started like this: after they finished beating the Dewford Gym they got on the wrong ferry, and ended up in Sootopolis, the eighth Gym town. They did their third badge in Sootopolis anyway, because why the hell not? They were already there, and it’s not like Gym Leaders aren’t required to keep Pokémon of all levels on them for people who aren’t doing things the traditional way.

After Sootopolis they caught a ferry to the closest city on the mainland, but Hinata managed to get the captain so mad that he chucked them off the boat, and they’d had to swim to shore. In Lilycove City they took a wrong turn and ended up on Route 121 instead of Route 122, which led onto Route 120 and took them all the way past the Ancient Ruins and the Scorched Slab to Fortree Town, the sixth Gym town.

They got their fourth badge there, but not before they got into a fight in a diner and nearly destroyed the place. To pay off the damages they ended up being forced into a month of hard labor washing dishes for the owner, who was a miserly old woman with a loud voice and a wicked temper.

Leaving Fortree was a joyous occasion, but then they had to go down Route 119 (also known as that one route where it _won't stop freaking raining)_ and Kageyama ended up getting harassed by every single bug catcher on the route, one of whom decided he didn’t like his attitude and pushed him into a puddle.

For Hinata, the whole thing was pretty amusing... the key word being ' _was'_ , because it really had been amusing,right up to the point where Kageyama decided to sic his Mightyena on the little asshole in revenge.

After that, it became freaking comedy gold, because Mightyena turned right around and decided to lick Kageyama to death instead.

For Kageyama? Honestly, the whole thing was just one traumatic experience after the other, and he'd really rather never think of it again.

So by the time Kageyama gets to Mauville City, he’s soaking wet, covered in mud and just generally miserable. Hinata –that obnoxiously oblivious freak— bounces off to go grab some food, and Kageyama goes by himself to the Pokémon Center to get them a room.

Once he’s checked in he takes a few minutes to reflect on how miserable he is, and then promptly falls asleep, still fully dressed.

To be fair, he’s had a rough couple of months.

.

When Kageyama wakes up his mouth tastes like something’s died in it, and he can’t open his eyes because the mud dried overnight and crusted over his eyelids. He stumbles to the bathroom to the sound of Hinata’s snoring, and crashes into at least three things on his way there: the dresser, a table and something that feels suspiciously like a lamp.

In the bathroom, it’s relatively easy to find the shower, though he does almost trip over the toilet. A much harder task is actually turning _on_ the shower, and Kageyama accidentally blasts himself with icy cold water before he gets it to a reasonable temperature.

By the time he’s all cleaned up, Kageyama feels at least a hundred times better about the world in general.

It’s something like eight in the morning. Hinata’s still fast asleep on the top bunk, curled up on top of the blanket with Combusken and Lombre.

His Pelipper seems to be perched on his face, and levels Kageyama with stare that somehow manages to look doped-out and malicious at the exact same time. Kageyama glares right back, having not yet forgiven the Pelipper for pooping on his cap back in Sootopolis.

It squawks threateningly. Kageyama raises his hands in surrender and backs away, fumbling for the doorknob behind him. He slips out into the hallway with a sigh of relief. “Stupid bird,” he mumbles under his breath. The Pelipper screeches indignantly from inside.

He looks down at his own pokeballs, clipped securely to his belt in a nice row of five, and scowls. Hinata’s Pokémon love him, and Kageyama knows that for a fact. He’s known it since he watched Hinata’s first gym battle back in Rustboro.

Other trainers have Pokémon that love them too, but it’s not the same. Other trainers take years to build bonds with their Pokémon. Hinata’s Pokémon have loved him fiercely from the moment they met him, for no other reason than him being Hinata. Hinata’s Pokémon would maim people for him in a heartbeat, which is kind of a scary thought, actually, because it’s kind of surprising how terrifying a Lombre can be when it’s pissed off.

Kageyama’s prickly, and yeah, sometimes he’s a bit of a jerk, but he likes to think he means well. And, okay, Hinata’s a bit of an idiot, and being around him tends to get Kageyama into the most ridiculous situations, but he’s also Kageyama’s friend. Maybe even his best friend. But—

Well. Kageyama might be a decent guy, but he’s certainly no saint.

And even a saint would feel a little bitter, if he loved Pokémon battling more than anything in the world and he had all these amazing strategies he wanted to try out, but all his Pokémon hated his guts. And then, just to rub salt in the wound, it turns out that the guy following him around could convince a tiny weakling of a Torchic to charge headfirst at a freaking Onix, for Arceus’s sake.

Seriously: how is that _fair_?

What did Hinata do to deserve his Pokémon’s unconditional love when Kageyama can’t even get his Pokémon to follow orders that would keep them from getting knocked out?

He fumes, and then immediately feels awful. Okay, maybe he’s more than just a bit of a jerk. On the off chance that his Pokémon suddenly like him, he unclips a pokeball from his belt and tosses it up in the air. Out comes Camerupt, who immediately sets fire to Kageyama’s shirt.

By the time he gets to breakfast, he’s in a foul mood, covered in soot and still smoking slightly. The Pokemon Center’s other patrons give him a wide berth, and a woman tugs her child over to the other side of the breakfast bar when she sees him coming.

Well _fine_. Kageyama hadn’t wanted that kid’s grubby hands all over his granola _anyway_.

.

The diner’s mostly empty and Kageyama’s been sitting around for two hours when Hinata sprints in with his Lombre on his shoulders, still in his pajamas. “Kageyama,” he gasps out, skidding to a halt in front of his rival’s table. “Tell me they’re still serving breakfast.”

“They’re still serving breakfast,” Kageyama says, sipping his coffee.

Hinata sighs in relief and slumps into the chair across from Kageyama. “Thank god,” he says. “Really?”

Kageyama shrugs. “Nah. Breakfast closed at nine thirty,” he says. Hinata’s jaw drops, and he starts to make incomprehensible noises. It’s funny for all of thirty seconds, before he starts going pale and floppy and Lombre starts freaking out. Then it stops being funny and starts just being stupid.

Kageyama sighs, looks away. “Whatever,” he says. “I saved you some cereal.”

The speed with which Hinata perks up is, quite frankly, alarming. “Really?” he says, with a beam. “Froot Loops?”

Kageyama glowers at the graffiti scratched into the table _(I love Nurse Shimizu!!! –T)_ and pushes the bowl of cereal over.

Hinata makes a sound of delight. “Sweet!” he crows. “You know me so well. Kageyama, we gotta get over to the Gym today! The Gym Leader here— hey! Lombre, hands off the cereal!” Lombre withdraws its hands sullenly, but Kageyama sees it tuck a handful of Froot Loops into its sombrero, the sneaky bastard. “Anyway,” Hinata continues. “The Gym Leader here specializes in electric types! Apparently he used to be an ace trainer or something, so he’s like, super strong!”

“All Gym Leaders are really strong,” Kageyama says, rolling his eyes. “You have to place in the top ten in the Hoenn League if you even want to be considered for a position like that, and have a really solid grasp of strategy so that you can moderate your strength to appropriately challenge trainers of all skill levels.”

“Yeah, yeah, but before he became a Gym Leader _this_ guy was an ace trainer!” Hinata says, and it’s pretty obvious that most of what Kageyama just said was lost on him. “An ace, Kageyama! The ‘Small Giant’ was an ace trainer too, did you know that? Ace trainers are _so cool!_ ”

“Hngh,” Kageyama says, and consoles himself with the fact that one day he’ll be the Hoenn League Champion, and Champion is by far the coolest trainer class.

When he _realizes_ he’s consoling himself, it makes him even angrier, and he accidentally makes a hole in the foam couch cushion with his fingernails.

.

In the daylight, Mauville’s a pretty modern-looking place, which is unsurprising, given that it’s home to New Mauville, the most famous power plant in Hoenn. It’s got a Game Corner that they pass on their way to the Gym, and a whole lot of tall buildings in various shades of cement grey.

By the time they actually get to the Gym it’s already eleven: late enough for the place to have opened, but not so late that everyone’s sure to have already gone out for lunch.

So it comes as more than just a bit a surprise when they discover the door is locked, and all the lights are off inside the building.

“It’s closed,” Kageyama says, unnecessarily.

Hinata makes a loud, frustrated sound. “What the heck?” he says. “It’s a Tuesday! And it’s not a public holiday!” He kicks the door. “ _Is_ it a public holiday?”

Kageyama opens his mouth to say something—

And then two shady-looking guys in trench coats jump out a bush and tackle him to the ground.

Hinata stares. Kageyama’s head throbs. He sighs deeply because seriously, come on. He needs a holiday or something.

“Get off me,” he says slowly, in the kind of voice that makes small children run away screaming. “ _Now_.”

They get off. “Sorry, sorry!” says the short one. “Don’t call the police! You two are—”

“You’re trainers, yeah?” the taller one cuts in. He’s got a shaved head and a mean set to his face. To be perfectly honest, he looks like a gangster. They both do, actually. “Here to challenge the Gym?”

“Yeah!” Hinata says, recovering from his shock.

Kageyama gets to his feet slowly. The look on his face must be terrifying, because Hinata looks like he’s about to wet himself, and the two shady dudes are hastily backing up a couple steps.

“Anyway,” continues the shorter guy bravely. “We’re Gym Leader Asahi’s apprentices! I’m Nishinoya, and he’s Tanaka, and you’ve gotta help us out, okay?”

“Okay!” Hinata agrees easily, and then frowns. “Wait, whatddya want _us_ to help you for?”

Tanaka rolls his eyes.

“Kid,” he says slowly, like he's talking to an idiot, which is kind of rich coming from the dude who just tried to solicit help from someone by basically assaulting them. “You wanna challenge the gym?”

Hinata nods vigorously. “Yeah!”

“Well, you _can’t do that if the Gym Leader isn’t here_ , dumbass!” Tanaka barks. “So do you wanna challenge the gym or not?”

.

So here’s the deal with Gym Leader Asahi: he’s always, according to Nishinoya, been a bit of a gentle giant. A crybaby, as Tanaka indelicately put it, infamous in the Hoenn league for having a heart as fragile as glass. 

And about a month ago, a group of incredibly strong trainers specializing in training up Pokémon with ridiculously high special defence had challenged Mauville Gym for their eighth badges.

Asahi had barely been able to put a scratch on their Pokémon, and it had just been one curb stomp battle after another.

The poor guy had never really recovered. He’d shut down the Gym the next day, much to the horror of his apprentices, but there'd been no deterring him.

.

They find Asahi by the river at the power plant just off Route 110. Nishinoya ferries them across on his Wailmer, with Tanaka following behind on his Tentacruel. If his Marshtomp liked him more, Kageyama probably would have tried to ride him over. Knowing Marshtomp, though, he probably would have ended up getting dumped in the water, so Kageyama doesn’t even bother tempting fate.

Nishinoya had called Asahi a “gentle giant”, but... wow. He hadn't been kidding about the _giant_ part.

The guy is at least five centimeters taller than Kageyama, and considering that Kageyama is something like a hundred and eighty centimeters tall, that’s… well. That’s pretty darn tall.

He's sitting cross-legged on the riverbank with a Mareep on his lap and a Manectric curled up against him, staring mournfully at the light reflecting off the water.

For a Gym Leader and an _ace trainer_ or whatever, Kageyama thinks a little bitterly, Azumane Asahi looks sort of pathetic.

He looks up at the sound of their footsteps. “Oh,” he says. “Nishinoya, what’re you doing here? And, um…” He gestures, helplessly.

Hinata gapes at him, looking sort of star struck. “Umm,” he says. “Aahh.”

“We came to bring you these here challengers!” Tanaka shouts, and his face is set with determination.

“H-Hi!” says Hinata. Kageyama nods.

“Oh,” says Asahi. “Hello. Um, good luck on your journeys, then. I’m sure you’ll do great.”

Hinata frowns. “Hey,” he says. “Aren’t you going to battle us? We’re here to get your badge, y’know!”

Asahi looks away. “Sorry. I think you have to come back some other time. The soonest Mauville can get a new Gym Leader is next month, I think.” His Mareep makes a soft, sad noise, and presses its nose into his shirt.

“But I want to battle _you_!” Hinata says. “Aren’t you an ace trainer? I’ve always wanted to battle a real ace!”

The Gym Leader laughs, a little sadly. “I’m not much of an ace, you know,” he says, and his Manectric whimpers. The Mareep squirms, its tail drooping.

Kageyama’s blood boils. He’s a fairly stoic guy but he’s been feeling kind of off all day and now he’s irrationally irritated, and for apparently no reason at all.

“How can you _say that_ ,” he blurts out. “How can you say that, when your Pokémon love you so much?”

He’s shaking, he realizes. He’s shaking and everyone’s staring at him. But he doesn’t get it. He really doesn’t.

Because— how can Asahi say he’s not much of an ace when it’s so obvious that his bonds with his Pokémon are so strong? How can he say that when it’s so clear that his Pokémon would do _anything_ to make him smile?

How can he say that, when it’s so clear that he’s about a hundred times better at being a trainer than Kageyama is?

He turns around and storms away, back to where Nishinoya’s Wailmer is waiting in the river. It whistles in confusion but ferries him across the water and back onto Route 110 anyway.

.

Hinata catches up to him just he reaches Mauville, latches onto Kageyama’s forearm with one cold, damp hand and yanks him to a stop.

Kageyama turns, scowl already on his face. Hinata’s face is red with exertion and he’s sopping wet from head to toe. There also seems to be some kind of weird water plant thing in his hair.

“Jeez,” Hinata says, gasping for breath. “It’s about _time_ you slowed down.”

“Why are you wet,” Kageyama says flatly. Then he realizes his eyes are lingering on the way Hinata’s shirt is clinging to him and abruptly looks away, glaring at the floor instead.

Hinata grins unrepentantly.

“Forgot I couldn’t swim and jumped in the river,” he says. “Tanaka’s Tentacruel had to fish me out. But I caught up to you in the end, right?”

“Yeah,” mumbles Kageyama.

“Gonna tell me what’s up?” says Hinata.

“No,” snarls Kageyama, and immediately regrets it when Hinata’s eyes widen. But the other boy just shrugs and unclips a pokeball from his belt. He tosses it up and out comes Combusken in a burst of red light.

“Okay,” says Hinata. “Let’s battle, then. We are rivals, anyway. If I win, you tell me what’s up. If I don’t, I leave you be.”

“Fine,” Kageyama says, and releases Marshtomp.

.

Kageyama wins. Hinata’s team executes his every order with incredible single-minded determination, but that doesn’t really help on the multiple occasions that Hinata’s commands go from passable to idiotic. Kageyama’s team does about half of what he says, but he’d taken that into account when he came up with his strategy, and so to be honest they only really needed to do half of what he said to win.

Still, Hinata puts up a good fight. They do a three-on-three because Hinata only has three Pokémon. Marshtomp knocks out Combusken with a few well-placed Water Pulses, and so Hinata swaps it for Pelipper. Pelipper takes out Marshtomp with a Wing Attack and a sneaky Quick Attack, so Kageyama sends out Mightyena. Then Mightyena takes out Pelipper and Lombre too, once Hinata sends it out, and that’s the end of that.

They return their Pokémon to their pokeballs silently, and Hinata looks so disappointed that Kageyama just up and says it, spits it out like the words are burning his mouth.

“That Gym Leader,” he mutters. “Asahi. His Pokémon care about him so much, and he just gives up on being a trainer because he lost a couple of battles. So what’s that supposed to mean?”

Hinata blinks, eyes wide, and Kageyama figures that he doesn’t get it, so he just sort of keeps going.

“I mean,” he continues. “What’s he trying to say? That his bond with his Pokémon means so freaking _little_? Because if it’s so easy to make bonds and so easy to throw them away, then why is it that it’s been six months and I’ve tried so hard and—”

“And?” Hinata says. There’s something in his eyes that Kageyama doesn’t know how to describe, so he doesn’t try.

“And my Pokémon still hate me,” he says, and looks away, cheeks burning with shame.

“Oh,” says Hinata. “ _Oh_.”

“Oh?” Kageyama says incredulously. He’s just poured his heart out to the guy and all he has to say is ‘oh’? One measly syllable? He’s never really had a friend who wasn’t Hinata, so he doesn’t really know the protocol for this kind of thing, but somehow he kind of feels like he’s earned a little more than that.

Then Hinata does this weird sort of giggle and he smiles, brightly, like Kageyama’s just made his day or something. “Oh,” he says. “But— your Pokémon don’t hate you, Kageyama.”

Kageyama stares. “Uh, what?” he says.

Hinata bites his lip, and he’s grinning helplessly now. “Your Pokémon don’t hate you,” he says again. “They care about you just as much as Gym Leader Asahi’s Pokémon care about him. Arceus, Kageyama, you really didn’t know? Actually, don’t answer that. This explains so much, oh Arceus, I should have _known_."

"What the hell are you talking about," says Kageyama.

"Your Pokémon love you," Hinata says. "Sure, they’re a little mischievous, but you don’t ever smile, of course they’re gonna try to mess with you, oh, _Kageyama_ —”

He starts to laugh and his smile is so wide it’s like it’s splitting his face right open, and it feels everything is suddenly right with the world in this one moment. Kageyama stares at the boy doubled over in front of him and something in his chest swells.

He unclips Mightyena’s pokeball and lets him out. Mightyena gives him this confused, skeptical look and then suddenly Kageyama’s laughing too, and once he starts it’s like he can’t stop.

Mightyena stares, clearly wondering what in the name of Arceus its trainer is doing, and then nips him in the shin.

For some reason it only makes Kageyama laugh harder.

.

“Gym Leader Asahi,” says Kageyama, eyes fixed on his feet. “I am so sorry about earlier—”

“No, I’m sorry,” cuts in Asahi. Kageyama looks up and the look on Asahi’s face is weirdly gentle.

Nishinoya exchanges a look with Tanaka that somehow manages to make them both look ecstatic and constipated at the exact same time.

“You were right. I love Pokémon. I love Pokémon battling," Asahi says, smiling slightly. "And I don't want to give up my position, not really. It was just, well, it's hard to explain, you know? My Pokémon looked so upset, like they’d disappointed me, and I didn’t want to make them feel that way ever again.”

He looks down, and his Mareep coos and nuzzles the leg of his trousers. Hinata’s staring at him, eyes wide and bright, and Kageyama can’t even bring himself to feel jealous.

Wait— jealous?

“But my Pokémon love battling too,” Asahi continues. “And just giving up would have meant that we couldn’t battle together like we always have. I don’t want that.”

At this point Nishinoya makes this choked-up noise, and when Kageyama glances at him it looks like he’s about to start bawling, he’s so happy. Tanaka’s already flat out sobbing.

“Does this mean you’ll battle us?” says Hinata, hope filtering into his voice like ink bleeding through paper.

Asahi’s smile widens, and he pulls a pokeball from his pocket.

“What do you think?” he says. “I thought we could do a double battle, maybe, the two of you against me and Nishinoya. I think it’d be an interesting match, don’t you?”

.

They lose, of course, but that’s honestly to be expected, because seriously, for such a placid guy Azumane Asahi’s Pokémon hit _hard_. And Nishinoya Yuu is the most badass support ever. Who else’s Pokémon could get a cheerleading routine like Helping Hand to look so cool?

Although it probably helps that Nishinoya's Plusle and Minun are the most strangely beefy-looking pair of cheering Pokémon that Kageyama has ever seen in his life. Seriously, bulging muscles, _everywhere_.

Later that night when they’re lying in bed, Hinata on the top bunk and Kageyama on the bottom bunk, Hinata says, sleepily, “We did good today,” in this soft voice that makes Kageyama’s stomach twist itself into a hundred thousand intricate knots.

“Yeah,” Kageyama agrees, and rolls over onto his side. His heart’s beating fast, like he’s just run ten miles in a dead sprint. He stares at the wall and pictures Hinata smiling at him, the light catching on his hair and the sun reflecting in his eyes, and—

The realization smacks him in the face like he’s just run headfirst into a brick wall: he’s in love with Hinata freaking Shouyou.

It’s the most ridiculous thing in the world. He wants to laugh, or cry, or maybe get up and crawl into Hinata’s bed and kiss him. Instead he just rolls over onto his back and says, “We’ll win next time.”

Hinata makes a muffled sound of agreement. “Yeah,” he says. “Definitely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I'm better at coming up with terrible, awful Pokemon-related puns than I am at actually writing this story, which is actually a little depressing. Oh well. Thanks for reading, and stick around for the next update? :3
> 
> Next up, "Mossdeep Green With Envy!"


	3. Mossdeep Green With Envy! (or, the third time)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter where Kageyama is hella jealous (for at least a little bit) and Hinata angsts, secretly.

The third time that Hinata loses a match to Kageyama is preceded by a disaster of epic proportions. 

When it happens, it’s just Kageyama, Hinata, and Allergy-chu the Raichu, and they’re sitting in a Pokémon café on the outskirts of Mossdeep City, a proper one, where you're allowed to keep your Pokémon out at the table. 

The thing about Pokémon cafés is that because they cater to Pokémon trainers (who have a reputation for causing chaos everywhere they go, and quite rightfully so, actually), they take a truly massive number of precautions. This particular one has a team of disturbingly menacing Chansey waiters hovering around, a firefighting department, and a scary-looking head chef who's been "personally breaking up fights since 1968", according to the words stitched on his frilly pink apron.

Problem is, even safety precautions aren’t enough to stop a truly idiotic trainer from nearly killing himself and everyone around him by accident, and that truly idiotic trainer? Well, Hinata’s kind of ashamed to admit that that’s one hundred percent him.

So it goes down like this. They’re sitting at the table, and one of the Chansey waitresses has just brought them their food: a burger for Hinata, a _huge_ plate of ravioli for Kageyama, and this fancy-looking soufflé thingy for Allergy-chu.

And then Hinata decides to put pepper on his burger, and all hell breaks loose, because, well. Allergy-chu the Raichu is the sixth addition to Kageyama’s permanent team and, in Hinata’s honest opinion, quite possibly the most adorable creature on the planet.

It’s cuter than Hinata’s Blaziken had been back when it was a Torchic. It’s cuter than the Surskit that won first prize at that fancy-schmancy “Hoenn’s Cutest Pokémon!” contest Kageyama had insisted they go to. Hell, it’s cuter than Hinata’s little sister, and that’s really saying something, because Natsu is generally agreed to be nauseatingly cute. So that’s all fine and dandy, but—

Allergy-chu _also_ has a terrible propensity for zapping people at the most inopportune moments possible. It’s not even the poor thing’s fault, because Allergy-chu also happens to be the sweetest Pokémon in existence.

It’s just that, well, they’d named it ‘Allergy-chu’ for a reason, and being around electric-type Pokémon who also happen to have severe allergies that manifest themselves in the form of uncontrollable sneezing… tends to have some fairly serious negative consequences.

The electrical sneezing follows manages to electrocute every single person in the café.

Somewhat predictably, the very scary head-chef throws them out. It’s probably for their own good, though, because some of those trainers looked _pissed_ , and odds like twenty-on-two are pretty damn bad no matter _how_ good at battling you are.

.

“You idiot! Why the heck would you _do that_? You knew we had Allergy-chu out, you stupid idiot,” Kageyama snaps, but it’s sort of hard to take him seriously with singed eyebrows and his hair standing up on end. To be fair, Hinata looks equally ridiculous.

They’re on their way back to the Pokémon center for medical treatment, because the people at the café had refused to help them after the chaos they caused. It’s early autumn, and the leaves on the trees growing on the sides of the pavement are starting to turn red and yellow.

Mossdeep City is probably one of the prettier cities that they’ve been to, but it’s kind of hard to appreciate the beauty of nature when everything hurts and your hands are tingling so much you think they might actually fall off.

“It needed pepper!” Hinata says, feeling a little defensive. “And anyway, it’s your fault too for not having Allergy-chu in its pokeball. It’s allergic to so many different foods even _you_ can’t remember all of them, why would you bring it out in a restaurant?”

Kageyama blushes, and he looks away.

“Shut up,” he says, clearly embarrassed out of his mind. “You try saying no to Allergy-chu. It kept giving me these— these _eyes_ , and it was _awful_ , and what the hell was I supposed to do?”

 “I could totally say no to Allergy-chu,” Hinata lies half-heartedly. It comes out sort of pathetic.

Kageyama scoffs. “Yeah, right—” he starts, and then stops.

There’s a boy standing in front of them. Like, directly in front of them, and it’s not like they didn’t see him or something, he freaking materialized in front of them. He’s not particularly tall, but not as short as Hinata, and he’s got a weird page-boy-cut-mixed-with-dido-flip thing going on with his hair, which is shoddily dyed to boot, bottle blond at the ends but black at the roots.

Also, he’s staring at them, and really intensely, too.

Wait a second. Hinata _knows_ this guy.

“Kenma?” Hinata says, thrilled, and then breaks into a grin.

“Hi, Shouyou,” says Kozume Kenma, his face completely serious.

Hinata beams. “Long time no see! I totally forgot you lived around here. Wow, I knew you had psychic powers, but this is like… really impressive! I mean, we got here, like, an hour ago.”

Kageyama pauses, looks between Hinata and Kozume. The look on his so face is so baffled that it makes Hinata want to laugh.  “Uh,” he says.

Kenma tilts his head backwards to look up at Kageyama, his eyes dark and piercing. He gives Kageyama this weird, suspicious look, even though he’s clearly talking to Hinata. “I didn’t really use psychic powers, though. I got a call about someone almost blowing up a Pokémon café, and thought it might be you, so I came to check things out.”

“Oh,” says Hinata, and grins ruefully. “Yeah, I can see why you’d think that.”

The other boy shrugs, still eyeing Kageyama.

“Anyway, so _this_ is your esteemed rival,” he says, finally deigning to actually address the poor guy. Besides Kageyama, Kenma’s probably Hinata’s closest friend, but his social skills are… somewhat lacking. “I’m Kenma. Hinata’s pen pal.”

“Um,” says Kageyama. “I’m Kageyama Tobio.”

Kenma nods solemnly at this, and then turns back to Hinata. “Shouyou,” he says, and cracks a smile, looking genuinely pleased to see Hinata. The thought makes Hinata feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and he smiles so wide his cheeks actually kind of start to hurt. It’s so _nice_ to see his friends again. “It’s good to see you again. I’m looking forward to our rematch. We’ll do things officially this time.”

Hinata nods vigorously. “I’m looking forward to our match too!” he says. It’s been ages since he’s seen Kenma. “I’m gonna beat you this time, just you wait.”

“I look forward to your efforts,” says Kenma. Then a fluffy white Pokémon with vaguely evil looking eyes climbs out of the back of his shirt and onto his head.

“Meow,” it says insistently, tugging on his hair.

Kenma sighs, steps in close and pulls Hinata into a bro-hug. Because they’re bros.

Kageyama stares.

“Sorry,” says Kenma. “I’ve got a match scheduled in five minutes. I’ve got to go. See you later, Hinata.”

“See you!” says Hinata, and then Kenma disappears into thin air.

The expression on Kageyama’s face is sort of constipated-looking.

.

About ten minutes of awkward, extensive grilling about his relationship with Kenma later, Hinata finally remembers that Kageyama doesn’t actually know that Kozume Kenma is Mossdeep City's very own Gym Leader. Somewhat predictably, Kageyama does not react well to this piece of news.

When he gets over himself, though, the grilling just _intensifies_. It’s a bit of a relief, though, because talking about Kenma’s battling style is a lot less uncomfortable than talking about Kenma’s potential romantic designs on Hinata, seriously.

For one thing, Hinata’s pretty sure that Kenma’s got a thing with one of his gym trainers, and for another, why the heck does Kageyama even _care_?

Unfortunately, Hinata's only battled Kenma once and that was all the way back in Lilycove City, where they met. All Kageyama ends up learning is that Kenma's a little weird but overall he's a decent guy, that he specializes in psychic types, and that he's really lazy so he just gets his Meowstic to teleport him around.

.

The walls of the examination room in the Pokémon center are white and smell faintly like bleach. Also, there’s a suspicious looking red stain on the carpet that Hinata’s relatively sure is blood.

“You’ve got electrical burns all over your hands,” says Nurse Yachi, horrified. “The two of you were _touching_ the Raichu when it discharged?”

Kageyama stares at his feet mulishly. “Maybe?” he mumbles.

“It’s a miracle you’re not dead,” she says faintly. “And you walked all the way here from the café? They didn’t treat you there? I can’t believe it. I need to have a word with Head Chef Nekomata, I swear to Arceus.”

“The old dude knew we were fine, I think,” Hinata offers. “Us two, we’re tough, y’know? And I’m pretty sure that we were about to get jumped by all the trainers who, you know, also got electrocuted, so it’s probably a good thing that we left.”

“Tough,” Yachi repeats disbelievingly, throwing her hands up in the air. “Tough, he says. You Pokémon trainers are all insane. Wait here, I’m going to go get the gauze.”

She marches off, the ends of her skirt fluttering around her knees. There’s a long pause.

“Do you… think she knows it’ll heal if she sprays it with a hyper potion?” Kageyama says, after a while.

Hinata shrugs.

“Maybe,” he says, because Nurse Yachi seems like a great person, but she's also definitely more than a little scatterbrained.

The other boy scowls. “Anyway, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me that guy was the Gym Leader here.”

“What, you mean Kenma?” says Hinata, He cocks his head, studies Kageyama’s face. The other boy flushes dark red.

“Yes, I mean Kozume, you stupid idiot,” he spits out, and something shifts behind his eyes, something strange and frustrated and wanting. “Your pen pal.”

Sometimes, Hinata thinks, he really doesn’t understand Kageyama.

Now that he thinks about it, though, Kageyama’s been acting oddly lately, blushing at any sign of physical contact and getting all riled up about the weirdest things. But this is the first time Hinata’s seen him so— he doesn’t even know, honestly. Jealous, maybe?

Maybe Kageyama thinks that Kenma's stealing his rival. But that seems kind of silly, because honestly, Hinata's not fooling himself: he's pretty sure that he and Kageyama have an unbreakable bond of friendship _now_ , but Kageyama didn't even want a rival in the first place. Him being upset about losing a rival seems a little unlikely.

Kageyama gives Hinata a long, searching look. He’s perched on the exam table and swinging his legs back and forth, the wax paper crinkling under his weight. “Whatever,” he says finally, and then goes back to staring at his shoes until Yachi comes back.

.

Gym Leaders are, in general, really freaking tough. Sugawara was tough, Asahi was tough, and so were Bokuto and Yaku and Kaname and Terushima.

But it’s different when it’s Kenma, because Hinata knew Kenma _before_ he knew Kenma was a Gym Leader, and Kenma’s his friend, and only one year older than him, and it’s just—

Oh, what the hell. Kenma is an amazing trainer, and one day, Hinata _will_ surpass him.

They’re sitting in the stands and trying to figure out Kenma’s weaknesses, but it’s hard not to get caught up in the atmosphere. The whole gym is saturated with adrenaline, from the mats on the floor all the way up to the rafters. Kenma sits on his platform and watches his Meowstic smash the opponent’s Vileplume against the ground. His hair is falling into his face and his eyes are narrowed.

The air tastes like a wild kind of determination. Hinata _loves_ it.

Watching Kenma battle, though, makes Hinata feel a little… inadequate, maybe, unearthing deep-rooted insecurities that he hadn’t even known he had.

Pokémon training, Hinata knows, is a team sport in that trainer and Pokémon are supposed to work together to win. But trainers aren’t supposed work together unless it’s for a double battle, and even alliances formed for double battles are only temporary. Kenma’s not like Hinata: he commands his Pokémon all by himself, and doesn’t have to rely on the plans and strategies that someone else came up with in order to win.

Someday, Hinata tells himself, he will be like that too.

Someday, he tells himself, he will be invincible, and he will fly on his own wings.

Kageyama’s arm presses into Hinata’s; solid and warm even through his shirt. “Kozume’s pretty strong, even for a Gym Leader,” Kageyama whispers. “Kind of lacking in brute force, but his strategy is definitely impeccable. This won’t be an easy badge to win.”

One of the Gym Trainers is standing in the back and watching Kenma with piercing eyes. Hinata’s relatively certain that he’s named Kuromi or Kuroo or Kuroda or something like that, but it’s hard to be sure. It is, however, _really_ obvious that he and Kenma are close. Like, really close.

In fact, Hinata’s almost completely sure that Kuroo or Kuroda or whatever is the Gym Trainer that Kenma has a thing with.

After that particular revelation, the whole ‘Kageyama-is-acting-like-a-freaking-crazy-person’ mini-crisis kind of goes up in smoke, and thank Arceus for that, because honestly, it's a relief. Hinata thinks he likes Kageyama better like this, fierce and bright and burning with Pokémon-mania.

He leans into Kageyama's side, rests his head on the other boy's shoulder, and Kageyama reaches an arm around him, pulls him close.

"Are you sleeping?" he says, incredulous in a weird, fond sort of way, and shakes his head, exasperated. "Whatever. We'll come up with a plan good enough to destroy him."

And that should make Hinata happy, shouldn't it? They're so close to being eligible to participate in the Hoenn League now: just two badges to go, and then they're done. They've made it so far already.

But he can't shake the queasy feeling of dissatisfaction in the pit of his belly.

Kageyama's plans, Kageyama's smile, Kageyama's brilliance-- Kageyama shines so brightly that he's almost hard to look at, sometimes. Like the sun, blazing bright in the clear blue sky.

But where does that leave Hinata? How many of his victories really belong to him, and him alone?

.

Their match is scheduled to take place in a week's time. Kenma's apparently one of the more popular gym leaders, and it's almost time for League sign-ups, so there's a waiting list of at least thirty people, which Hinata personally thinks is a little ridiculous.

Such is life, though. They raid the Pokemart for hyper potions, and start scouting around for somewhere to train.

.

In the end, the training location they settle on is a park about twenty minutes from the Pokémon center. It's a more than halfway decent spot if Hinata does say so himself, but the fallen leaves all over the place mean that all their Pokémon want to do is mess around and jump into leaf piles.

“Are you even listening to me?” Kageyama barks, exasperated and snippy. His Swampert bounds over with Hinata’s Blaziken trailing along behind it. It’s weirdly energetic for a freaking huge, two hundred pound aquatic mud salamander thing. "Thank you. Arceus, at least one of you is being sensible."

Being the cheeky little shit that it is, Swampert then proceeds to cheerfully spits a massive blob of muddy water directly onto him, something it’s been doing since it figured out how to use the move a couple weeks ago. Kageyama splutters and swears loudly, wiping at his muddy face with his equally muddy sleeve.

In a display of true intelligence, Swampert quickly skedaddles. Blaziken sets Kageyama’s shoes on fire and then follows: Kageyama’s Pokémon have been rubbing off on it.

“That's what you get for expecting a bunch of hyperactive Pokémon to listen to you when there are leaf piles to jump into,” says Hinata, and closes his eyes while Kageyama hops around trying to put out the flames.

Kageyama's never had any problem voicing whatever the hell happens to pop into his head, good or bad.

Hinata, though... he likes being _cheery_. But sometimes when he's not expecting it all these ugly, hateful emotions well up inside him, and he has to smack them down like one of those kids playing Whack-a-Drilbur.

And sometimes he can’t help but think that it’s just not fair, because Kageyama got over all his issues so easily, like, oh hey my Pokémon loved me all along, and Hinata’s problems just aren’t as easy to  _solve_ as that.

So he’s jealous. It’s selfish, and he knows that, but he can’t stop himself from feeling this way. It’s just, well, Kageyama has it _all_ : he’s a genius, he’s good-looking, and—

And Hinata’s supposed to be his rival, in fact, he’d been the one to up and _declare_ himself Kageyama’s rival, but seriously, how the heck is he supposed to ever  _compare_?

.

Sometimes it's something big that does it, something fast and brutal and sudden that drags you up the cliff and shoves you over before you even have the chance to blink. Sometimes it's the little things, piling up and up and up until it only takes the tiniest nudge to send you careening over the edge.

For Hinata, it happens like this.

“Okay,” Kageyama sighs. “So this is your strategy. And as long as you follow it to the letter, you’ll put up a decent fight against Kenma, okay?”

Hinata scowls at the complicated diagram in front of him. He’s not sure how it’s possible for a piece of paper to look so malicious, but somehow this stupid diagram is managing it.

Looking at the paper makes his brain want to tie itself in knots, though, so he looks away. Part of him wants to execute this plan perfectly, because Kageyama’s got such a nice smile when you catch him off guard, all warm and bright, the kind of smile that makes you feel all soft and melty inside. And yet—

Another part of him, the hot-blooded Pokémon trainer in him that dreams big and has a bit of a temper, wants to tell Kageyama exactly where he can shove his plots and diagrams and careful plans.

“You understand it, right?” says Kageyama brusquely; rubbing tiredly at his eyes, and Hinata deflates.

Kageyama’s a good guy, and Hinata gets that, really. He’s Hinata’s best friend in the whole wide world, even. And he’s trying so  hard to help Hinata out, because Hinata’s awful with strategy, and everyone knows it.

It’s not like he’s been just pulling these plans out of his ass, either, because he’s a genius but even geniuses need time to come up with a solid plan that can help an idiot beat a gym leader, and Hinata knows for a _fact_ that he’d been up all last night working on it.

But Hinata’s a Pokémon trainer too, and collaboration has its benefits, but he wants to stand on his _own_ as a trainer.

He thinks of Kenma, sitting there on the platform with his hair falling into his face, independent and determined and strong.

“Anyway,” says Kageyama, sounding vastly unimpressed with life in general. “So use that diagram for reference, and we'll have a practice match. I’ll imitate Kenma’s style, and you use the strategy.”

“Alright,” says Hinata, and there's nothing really wrong with his voice, per se, it's just… not as obnoxiously enthusiastic as it usually is. Kageyama frowns.

“Are you feeling alright?” he says, and Arceus, that’s honest _concern_ in his voice, isn't it?

Hinata’s never hated himself more. “Fine!” he says, with his brightest smile. Kageyama looks unconvinced, but they start the match anyway.

He follows the strategy but slips up about halfway through, and Blaziken ends up knocked out by Kageyama’s third Pokémon. Everything goes downhill from there: Kageyama’s never been the merciful sort, and he flat out demolishes the rest of Hinata’s team.

When it’s over, Hinata’s left with five knocked out Pokémon and a prickly stinging in the corners of his eyes. He’s used to losing: he’d never been in it to win it in the first place, really, but it still hurts. This is the third time he’s lost to Kageyama in as many battles, and honestly it’s kind of started to sting.

And then Kageyama crosses his arms and barks out, “That’s why you follow the strategy, dipshit,” and it’s not malicious, because that’s just the sort of thing that Kageyama says, and Hinata shakes it off and smiles and it’s like nothing was wrong in the first place, but—

But what's that supposed to mean? That he can't do anything if he's not following Kageyama's strategy? That he's just not good enough by himself?

Hinata spends almost an hour in the shower that night, until his skin’s lobster red and his fingers get all pruney, just staring at the tiles and trying to get those words out of his head.

By the time he gets out, Kageyama's already asleep.

.

In the match with Kenma, Hinata follows the strategy almost perfectly. It still takes him a couple tries to beat the guy, but it works in the end. Kageyama’s battle plans always work in the end, because Kageyama’s a freaking genius.

But when Kenma congratulates him, compliments him on how much his Pokémon love him and on his impressive strategy, the words don’t make him as happy as they should.

They move on.

.

For Kageyama, Hinata's pretty sure that it must have been like it came out of the blue. But here's the thing: it didn't.

And when halfway to Lavaridge he stops and just up and blurts it out, says, "I don't think we should do this any more. Work together, I mean, and be rivals and everything," it just feels like a weight's been lifted off his shoulders, like he's remembered how to breathe again.

The expression on Kageyama's face is impossible to read.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhhhhhhh. So things take an unexpectedly serious turn. You didn't actually think that I could write a fun, light-hearted piece without things getting really depressing for a bit, did you?
> 
> Never fear, though, all will be resolved! Eventually.
> 
> Next up: Reaching the Boiling Point!


	4. Reaching the Boiling Point! (or, the fourth time)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lavaridge Town, Daichi and the end of the angst in this fic. =)

The fourth time Kageyama beats Hinata in a Pokémon battle is… not exactly either of their finest moments.

.

"I don't think we should do this any more. Work together, I mean, and be rivals and everything," Hinata says, and gives him this helpless, relieved kind of look, like he’s wanted to say that for a long, long time.

It feels like he’s been punched in the gut. Kageyama stares at the other boy, stunned. No, not just stunned— floored. Totally and completely floored. He’s at a loss for words.

Some of his disbelief must be showing on his face (and translating in a sort of frightening way), because Hinata takes one look at his face and recoils a little.

Then he’s just staring at his feet, and that’s just flat out unfair. Because you can’t just— just _do_ that, drop a bombshell like that and then start on the avoidance tactics, seriously.

Kageyama feels sick. His stomach churns with the kind of nausea that comes from eating something that’s gone off, but he knows it’s not that, because they’d skipped breakfast that morning to get an early start and anyway, he’s sure he hasn’t eaten anything that might have given him food poisoning.

He wants to grab Hinata by the shoulder and shake him. _Look at me_ ; he wants to say, except that he knows it would come out with all the desperation of a drowning man clutching at straws.

“Hinata—” he tries instead, and then cuts himself off, embarrassed and angry with himself for not being able to just man up and _do_ something already.

But what the hell is he even supposed to say?

 _I thought you said we were destined rivals_ , maybe, or even _, I thought we were more than rivals, I thought we were friends._

If this were a trashy romance novel like the ones Kageyama will never admit to reading, he’d probably even go the extra mile and take the opportunity to make it into some kind of long-winded declaration of love, and that would be enough to have Hinata running back into his arms. Heck, maybe there’d be a passionate kiss in there too.

But in the end he says nothing, because his life isn’t the plot of a romance novel, and even if it were, _he_ certainly wouldn’t be the dashing male lead.

They walk the rest of the way to Lavaridge in silence.

.

And so he mopes. Kageyama lies curled up in bed and wonders whether screaming into the pillow would make him feel better. He kind of figures that that would be taking the angsty teenager stereotype a little too far, though. Now that the initial shock’s worn off, he feels—

Well. He’s never really been all that good with emotions and all that. But he’s pretty sure that when you get your heart broken, the body part that’s supposed to start hurting is, you know, your heart.

Honestly, he just feels like he’s going to puke, but that feels bad enough as it is. His head hurts like hell, and his gut feels like someone’s trying to stuff it through a wringer.

They’d booked separate rooms and everything this time. Kageyama almost wishes that they’d just braved the awkwardness of stuffing themselves into one of their usual two-person rooms, even despite all the drama. Anything would be better than this. He’s all alone in his one-person room, and Hinata is somewhere else.

It feels so _real_.

And Hinata hates him. That’s probably the worst part. Kageyama remembers the relief on his face after he’d gone and said he didn’t want to be rivals anymore, and honestly, he just wants to punch something. Maybe a wall.

He contemplates going out and doing something to take his mind off things, wonders whether he should drag himself out of bed and train his Pokémon or watch a depressing movie or go eat a couple tubs of ice cream _something_. But in the end he decides against it, because—

What would the _point_ in it be? What, exactly, would any of it _help_? Eating three tubs of chocolate ice cream or punching a wall wouldn’t make him feel better, because none of it would bring Hinata back, and that’s all he wants, really.

He blatantly ignores the fact that just lying in bed is even _less_ productive, and continues to mope.

Half an hour later, he gets up and punches the wall anyway. It doesn’t do a thing to the wall, but judging by the searing pain in his hand directly afterwards, he’s broken a few fingers.

Punching walls is _definitely_ overrated.

.

Oddly enough, after he goes to see the nurse he actually feels a lot better, and not just in terms of how much pain he’s in because of the broken hand.

He manages to get himself downstairs despite the throbbing in his fingers by gritting his teeth and venting his frustration with some very colorful expletives.

The nurse on duty is a tiny woman in her mid-twenties who looks strangely familiar. She takes one look at his hand and rolls her eyes.

“Arceus almighty,” she says, exasperated. _“Trainers_ , honestly. Always doing most idiotic things, and for what? Shits and giggles? Take a seat, kiddo, and give me a closer look at your hand.”

Kageyama scowls, but obediently sits down on the exam table and offers her his injured hand. There’s a little bit of blood and it’s starting to swell up. Also, it hurts like _hell_.

“Can you move your fingers?” she says, a little curiously.

“No,” says Kageyama. “I think I broke something.”

“Well, obviously,” the nurse says, and prods at his pinky. It sends pain shooting all the way up his arm. Kageyama winces. “That hurt? Good, you deserve that for doing this to yourself. Okay, let me guess. You punched a wall or something?”

Her nametag reads ‘Tanaka’ in cutesy, girlish handwriting.

Kageyama looks away. “Maybe,” he says mulishly.

“Knew it,” Tanaka says, and turns away, sounding satisfied. She starts rummaging around in a drawer. “Do you know how _many_ of these types of hand injury I’ve seen? Seriously, being a Gym Leader sucked. Quitting was the best decision I ever made. Now I can just make fun of people for being injured instead of having to watch them actually do this to themselves after they lose miserably to me.”

It takes a few seconds for him to put two and two together, but when he gets it, Kageyama just stops and stares. Holy shit.

“Being able to beat people up everyday was fun, though,” ex-Gym Leader Tanaka Saeko continues, like she hasn’t even noticed. “Oh well. Daichi’s doing a good job as my replacement, anyway. What badge are you here for?”

“Eighth,” Kageyama answers automatically, staring at the woman with dawning horror.

Tanaka nods, seemingly pleased. “Pretty good, you’re almost eligible for the League, then. Okay, hold still, I’m going to splint your fingers and then spray you with a hyper potion.”

Obediently, he stops moving. Tanaka starts splinting his fingers, one by one. Her hands are firm but gentle.

“How did _you_ even get a license for medicine?” Kageyama blurts out, because seriously, this is the Gym Leader who’d set the Hoenn League record for sending the most trainers and their teams straight to the Pokémon Center in a row (forty-two, by the way). And she’s _splinting his broken fingers_. “Who in their right mind decided that letting you near sick people was a good idea?”

She scoffs. “Oh, _please_. You think all nurses are soft and squishy? Honestly, haven’t you met Nurse Shimizu from Mauville? My little brother has the biggest crush on her. I think it’s because she could crush him like a bug. She used to be a Gym Leader too, specialized in dragon types and all that before she retired. Tough cookie, that one.”

Kageyama remembers soft-spoken Nurse Shimizu from Mauville City and tries to picture her crushing someone like a bug. He shudders.

 “So why’d you punch the wall anyway?” Tanaka says suddenly. “What’d the poor wall ever do to you? Your girlfriend dump you or something?”

Kageyama closes his eyes, tries to focus on the pain in his fingers instead of the twisting in his chest. “Something like that,” he mumbles.

Tanaka snickers, but when she’s finished with his hand, she slaps him on the back sympathetically and ‘forgets’ to charge him for the treatment.

“I punched a wall too, first time I got dumped by my boyfriend,” she says, and then adds, “Punched him too, actually. But look, kiddo, things get better. I promise.”

.

Being in a new place without Hinata trailing after him and making dumb jokes is weird. He’d always complained about Hinata being annoying, but this is definitely worse.

He explores a little, tries his best to focus on seeing the sights. Lavaridge is another one of those towns that are filled with old people. Kageyama can see why, actually. The weather’s getting colder everyday, teetering right on the edge of freaking freezing, and yeah, he can see the appeal of having a nice, long soak in a hot spring to ward away the winter chills.

He tries not to think about Pokémon or battling or, Arceus forbid, _rivalry_.

In the end, though, he ends up in front of the Pokémon Gym anyway. He’d done some research on this Gym before they’d left Mossdeep: the Gym Leader here is Sawamura Daichi, a fresh-faced, classically handsome eighteen-year-old specializing in fire-types.

Well, why not. He goes in.

.

Yeah, he probably would have tried harder to resist the urge to go scope out Gym Leader Sawamura’s battling style if he’d known that it would be the tail end of _Hinata’s_ match that he’d end up watching.

Once he’s inside, though, he can’t bring himself to just up and leave, because he and Hinata used to be basically joined at the hip, and he hasn’t even spoken to the guy since they went their separate ways at the Pokémon Center.

He can’t help it. He misses Hinata. He misses his _friend._

It looks like they’re doing a six on six. Hinata’s down five Pokémon and Sawamura’s only down three. Honestly, it looks like the match is going to be over soon.

Sawamura’s Ninetails hexes Hinata’s Torkoal _—_ when did he catch _that?—_ and the poor Torkoal makes an alarmed noise. It starts blowing black soot out of its nostrils and the holes in its shell to make a smokescreen, but Ninetails is too fast and gets Torkoal with a well-aimed Extrasensory.

Then it’s all over, and Hinata returns Torkoal to its pokeball, his shoulders slumping. Sawamura crosses the arena to pat the poor kid on the shoulder, and says something to him that Kageyama can’t quite make out but sounds reassuring anyway. Hinata nods, and smiles ruefully at the Gym Leader.

Then he turns to go and sees Kageyama.

His eyes go wide and the look of abject horror on his face would have been kind of funny if it didn’t piss Kageyama off so much. He stares, and then he realizes he’s staring and averts his eyes, shuffling towards the door like he can make Kageyama not exist if he just _doesn’t look_.

Kageyama opens his mouth to say something and then shuts it again, his lips pressing into a thin line. Suddenly he’s _angry_ again, every bottled-up negative emotion from the past day or two hitting him like a ton of bricks.

He’s not thinking straight and his decision making abilities are sorely compromised at the moment, but all he can think about is that there’s an aching tightness in his throat and his fingers are throbbing with pain and he feels like crap and he just—

He just wants to know _why_.

He crosses the gap between them in four long strides, takes Hinata roughly by the shoulders and shakes him. The whole Gym goes silent.

“What the hell?” he demands, hating the slight tremble in his voice, the raw vulnerability he can hear in his own words. He’s not even sure what he’s asking, really. “Why _—_ ”

Hinata meets his gaze, and for a split second Kageyama thinks he sees his own reflection in the other boy’s eyes, lost and confused and unhappy. Then it’s gone, as fast as it came, and there’s only anger in its place.

“I thought I told you I didn’t want to see you anymore,” he says, and his words are sharp and fast like knives, or maybe needles.

Kageyama bristles, fury rising up into his throat until he’s practically choking on it.

They’re making a pretty big commotion, so it’s not really surprising when Sawamura materializes beside them. He’s got a hand on Kageyama’s shoulder and a hand on Hinata’s, like he thinks he’s going to have to break up a fight.

“Now, now,” says Sawamura, his voice calm and perfectly even. He’s frowning a little. “Take it outside, boys. I don’t like people fighting in my Gym.”

Kageyama growls in frustration. He takes a deep breath, struggles to calm himself down. “Or,” he says, trying not to let his voice shake. “We could settle this with a Pokémon battle, like proper trainers. Gym Leader Sawamura, would you referee for us?”

Sawamura cocks his head, curiously. It’s kind of obvious that he’s not too sure what’s going on, but he’s got a reputation for being fair, and he’ll probably reserve judgment for after he’s figured out what in the name of Arceus is happening in his Gym. “Certainly,” he says. “A three-on-three, standard rules?”

“Fine,” snaps Hinata. “You wanna go? Well, let’s go.”

.

After Hinata heals up his Pokémon with a couple Hyper Potions and Revives, Sawamura leads them past the main room of the gym and down a flight of stairs. They end up in a large, mostly-empty room with boundaries painted sloppily on the ground in scuffed white paint. A practice arena, then.

“My Gym Trainers use this for training,” he says, by means of explanation. “Most of them are off today, though, so you can use it for your battle.”

“Okay,” says Kageyama, and he’s almost vibrating with anger.

They battle, and the whole thing is just… well, to be honest, it’s a shit-show. Kageyama battles more viciously than he’s ever battled in his life. They both do.

The whole thing confuses Kageyama’s Pokémon from the get-go. They’re used to Kageyama taking battles seriously, but not like this. Not with the intention to _hurt_.

Because that’s what it is, really. And it’s wrong, and he knows it’s wrong, and he’s definitely going to regret this later, but he’s _hurting,_ and he wants to make Hinata hurt too.

Sawamura referees the whole battle with a pinched, disapproving look on his face.

Kageyama leads with Swellow and Hinata leads with Ludicolo. It’s an unfortunate type match-up for Hinata but Kageyama doesn’t hold back. It only takes a few particularly brutal Wing Attacks for Ludicolo to keel over, and then out comes Torkoal, who tries to roast Swellow with an Inferno.

Swellow manages to dodge most of the flames, but still ends up burned, and by the time it’s managed to knock out Torkoal, it can barely manage to keep itself in the air: easy prey for Hinata’s Blaziken, who blasts it with a Flamethrower before it has a chance to catch a breath.

Then out comes Swampert, and it’s pretty much all over for Hinata, because Swampert is the powerhouse of Kageyama’s team and has double type-effectiveness over fire.

By the time Blaziken hits the ground unconscious, Hinata looks like he’s about to cry.

All the anger leaks out of Kageyama, and he looks away, shamefaced.

“This battle is over. Kageyama Tobio wins,” says Sawamura, but he barely spares a glance at Kageyama. Instead he goes to Hinata, claps him solemnly on the shoulder. “Hinata, your rematch with me is scheduled to take place in two weeks time. I expect you to spend those two weeks wisely. Make sure you come up with a solid strategy now that you’ve seen my battle style. Do some training, too.”

“I will,” says Hinata, clenching his fists.

Sawamura nods. “I know you will. Listen: I think you’re underestimating yourself. You battled well just now, both with me and with your rival. If you do your best, I have no doubt that you’ll be able to beat me when we next battle.”

“Yeah,” says Hinata, and then turns to go.

Kageyama turns as well, not sure if he wants to chase after Hinata or run in the opposite direction.

“Wait,” says Sawamura. “I want a word with you.”

.

It’s not hard to see how Sawamura Daichi ended up as a Gym Leader. He’s the epitome of perfect leadership material: stern but not unapproachable, kind but not so compassionate that it clouds his judgment.

Right now, though? The look he’s giving Kageyama could probably make a grown man wet himself.

Finally, Sawamura sighs. “So. Kageyama Tobio, huh?” he says. “That was your rival just now, right?”

“Yeah,” says Kageyama, staring at his feet.

“Right, okay,” Sawamura says, and his tone softens a little. “Well, I know a thing or two about rivalry myself. I’ve got a rival too, you know. I’m sure you’ve met him before. The Rustboro Gym Leader.”

Kageyama looks up, startled. “Gym Leader Sugawara?” he says, and tries to imagine it. It’s a little hard to wrap his head around.

Sawamura nods. “Yeah. Me and Sugawara, we go way back. We started our journey together, too. But listen, okay?” he says, his eyes dark and intense. “I’m not going to lecture you or anything. But there’s a difference between a healthy rivalry and an unhealthy one. Are you following me so far?”

“Yes,” says Kageyama.

“Okay, good,” Sawamura continues. “You’re not supposed to hate your rival, or want to hurt your rival. A Pokémon trainer and his rival make each other _better_ , get it? If that’s not how things work with you and Hinata, maybe you… shouldn’t be rivals.”

Kageyama blinks, and realizes that he’s gaping at Sawamura like an idiot.

“I—” he starts, and then shakes his head and tries again. “I don’t hate Hinata,” he says, miserably. “Hinata’s the one who hates _me_.”

Sawamura blinks.

“Oh?” he says, curiously, and cocks his head, and it’s like that’s some sort of cue for Kageyama to just start spilling the beans, because before he knows it he’s told Sawamura _everything._

“I see,” Sawamura says, when Kageyama’s done ranting. He looks thoughtful. “Well, _that_ changes things. I think I can help you out, though.”

.

And that’s how Kageyama Tobio ends up in a full-body Torchic mascot outfit and refereeing Hinata’s rematch between Gym Leader Sawamura.

It’s boiling hot in the Gym and Kageyama’s sweating _bullets_. He gets some strange looks from the Gym Trainers and one _really_ strange look from Hinata, but Sawamura’s acting like everything’s perfectly normal so everyone else has no choice but to follow his lead.

They do a four on four this time, and Kageyama’s almost pathetically grateful because the thought of standing around in this sweaty, itchy outfit for a full six-on-six battle makes him want to cry.

Hinata leads with Ludicolo, and Sawamura sends out the Ninetails from the other day. “At this level, just having the type advantage doesn’t mean you’re going to win,” Sawamura warns, and his Ninetails charges forwards with a Quick Attack.

“I know!” says Hinata, grinning. “Teeter Dance, like we practiced, Ludicolo!”

And then he starts… singing?

It takes a couple seconds for Kageyama to get it, but once he does, it’s all he can do to keep from laughing.

Of _course_. Ludicolo gets stronger when it listens to festive music: it even says so in the Pokedex.

It’s a genius plan. Unconventional, maybe, but _brilliant_.

Ludicolo takes out Sawamura’s Ninetails and his Magcargo before the Gym Leader’s Camerupt finally manages to knock the dancing green Pokémon out with a powerful Takedown, but not before Ludicolo confuses it with Teeter Dance.

Then Hinata sends in Pelipper, who knocks Camerupt out of bounds and unconscious with a Hydro Pump, and proceeds to Water Pulse Sawamura’s poor Torkoal into oblivion, and then it’s over, and Hinata’s _won_.

Kageyama raises the flag that signals Hinata’s victory, and Hinata whoops in glee. Sawamura returns his unconscious Pokémon to its pokeball and walks over to shake Hinata’s hand.

“You did great,” says Sawamura warmly. “That was an extremely impressive plan.”

“Thank you,” says Hinata. Now that the initial euphoria’s worn off, though, he looks tired, and a little sad.

Sawamura reaches into his pocket and pulls out a badge. “This is the Heat Badge,” he says. “It’s your eighth badge, so receiving it will make you eligible for to participate in the Hoenn League. You want it, right?”

“Um,” says Hinata. “Yeah?”

The Gym Leader gives a smile that sends chills down Kageyama’s spine. To his horror, he realizes that it sort of reminds him of Gym Leader Sugawara.

“Well, you’ll get it. But only if you tell me about what’s going on between you and your rival. Now, do you want your badge or not?”

Hinata squeaks, and starts talking.

.

Once the door swings shut behind Hinata, Kageyama lets out a sigh of relief and starts struggling out of the mascot outfit. He’s dripping with sweat: the only thing grosser than the way he feels is the way he _smells_.

“So,” says Sawamura. “You got all that?”

Kageyama nods vigorously. He feels disgusting and it’s so freaking _hot_ in this stupid Gym, but his chest has never felt lighter.

He scrambles to his feet. “Thank you, Gym Leader Sawamura!” he yells, and then drops into a deep bow.

Sawamura laughs. “No problem. Hinata’s going to head to Ever Grande City to register for the Hoenn League now: do you want to follow him?”

“Yeah,” says Kageyama, and Sawamura smiles mischievously.

“Well,” he says slowly. “I can fit in another battle today. Why don’t you try winning a Heat Badge of your own?”

Kageyama grins. “I hope you’re ready to be beaten for the second time today, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Winter break is the best thing ever. Seriously. I spent the whole plane ride home from school writing this chapter and editing the previous ones, and it was amazing. I'm so sick of school, seriously.
> 
> Also, I just recently started playing Pokemon Alpha Sapphire, and I love it so much I don't even know what to do.
> 
> Next up, "A Red-Hot Rivalry!"


End file.
